First eggnog, then revenue stream analysis

As some Metro Council members continue to speculate about when they’ll get the convention center financing package and how much time they’ll have to deal with it, one has filed legislation asking for the chance to get through the holiday season first.

Councilman Mike Jameson’s non-binding resolution would express the council’s “desire that its members be allowed sufficient time after the upcoming holiday season to conduct public meetings with neighborhood associations, civic organizations, and business groups.” Jameson said he’s concerned because such groups generally don’t meet in December, which would make it difficult to consult them if Mayor Karl Dean submitted the financing plan in November and wanted a vote by the end of the year.

Dean told The Tennessean‘s editorial board two weeks ago that that he wants just that. But his finance chief, Rich Riebeling, said Tuesday that the administration’s schedule isn’t quite that tight.

Riebeling said he hopes to submit the plan in “late November-ish” and understands the council’s desire for six weeks to consider it. “This is something that shouldn’t be done quickly or hurriedly,” he said.

In any case, the ball will be in the council’s court, and the council doesn’t have to do anything on the mayor’s timetable.

“Once we give it to them, it’s out of our control,” Riebeling said.

He said the city does need to break ground on the convention center in the first quarter of 2010, however, if it’s going to open the building in time for the first booked convention three years later.

“If we go into the second quarter, we’ll start having significant concerns,” he said.